US
prosecution brief defends brutal treatment of American Taliban POW
In opposition papers filed March 29 for an April 1 hearing on defense
motions to compel the production of evidence, prosecutors admitted
that US officials stripped John Walker Lindh nude, tied him to a stretcher,
and kept him in a metal shipping container for two days before an
FBI agent allegedly obtained a written Miranda waiver of Lindh’s Fifth
Amendment right to remain silent and consult an attorney.

Court
to Review Three Strikes Sentencing Laws
The Less-than-Supreme Court said Monday it will use the cases of two
petty thieves sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for shoplifting
videotapes and stealing golf clubs to decide how far states can go
in applying tough three-strikes-and-you're-out sentencing laws.

Tenants
can be evicted for others' drug use
Public housing authorities can evict an entire family when someone
in the household is caught with drugs, even if the others knew nothing
about the wrongdoing, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. [Finally, the
entire Bu$h family can be evicted from Al Gore's house...]

TV
Drama, Pentagon-Style: A Fictional Terror Tribunal
The "JAG" tribunal episode is to be broadcast on April 30... "JAG"
has enjoyed a close relationship with the Pentagon for years... With
the terrorist attacks, its popularity has soared, to the 10th most
popular prime-time show this year from the 28th last year. As
such, it has become a tool of wartime public policy.

Security
plan will monitor all fliers
Agencies to collect, share traveler data Federal security officials
are preparing to test a new screening system for airline passengers
this fall that will link government databases for the first time,
permitting detailed scrutiny of every traveler.

Mail-Watching
Is Alive and Well
Sharp rise in use of low-tech law enforcement tool worries privacy
experts, defense attorneys -- The mail cover, an investigative tool
that once received wide publicity, has been largely forgotten but
is thriving. Its use has risen by more than half since the mid-1980s.

Is
Protest Music Dead? --
By Jeff Chang [a must-read] ...He [Public Enemy's Chuck D]
says, "You got five corporations that control retail. You got four
who are the record labels. Then you got three radio outlets who own
all the stations. You got two television networks that will actually
let us get some of this across. And you got one video outlet. I call
it 5-4-3-2-1. Boom!"

Critical
Habitats -- Critical State
Instead of Protecting the Environment, Feds Throw In the Towel --
by Phil Busse "Last week, two federal agencies threw in the towel
and conceded to open up protected habitats for development..."

U.N.
Calls for Israeli Pullout From Palestinian Cities
The United States joined other U.N. Security Council members Saturday
in adopting a resolution that calls on Israel to withdraw its troops
from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat's
headquarters is under siege.

Arafat
Remains Confined in Office as Israel Arrests Hundreds
Israeli soldiers rounded up hundreds of Palestinians on Saturday in
a sweep for militants, while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was
effectively penned in a few rooms of his office building with water
cut off and food dwindling, surrounded by Israeli tanks and troops.

Bu$h
Tapped Solar Energy Funds to Print Energy Plan While environmentalists
have slammed the White House national energy plan for not doing enough
to promote renewable energy, the Bu$h mis-ministration found those
government research programs useful in paying the bill for printing
copies of the 170-page plan.

Pentagon
Seeks Exemption From Environmental Laws Concerned
that several environmental laws are interfering with the military's
ability to train soldiers and develop weapons, the Pentagon is seeking
a Congressional exemption from an array of measures that have protected
endangered species and their habitats for years.

Bu$h
Names Affirmative Action Critic to Civil Rights Post pResident
and all-around Fascist G.W. Bu$h used his power to make appointments
during Congressional recesses today to name a young black lawyer who
is a vocal critic of preferences for minorities to be head of the
Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education.

Israel
Raids Arafat's Headquarters
Palestinian Speaks of Martyrdom as Army Closes In; Sharon Says Aim
Is Not to Kill -- Backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers,
Israeli soldiers knocked down the walls of Yasser Arafat's West Bank
compound here today and moved room by room through parts of the two-building
office complex where he lives and works.

Ontario
Tories open door to 60-hour workweek
[Ontario Tories and Disney management must be working together!] Recent
changes to Ontario’s labour standards have emboldened employers to
press for a lengthening of the workweek, giving rising to a series
of strike struggles.

Peace
And Nuclear Disarmament: A Call To Action
-- by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) "If you believe that
humanity has a higher destiny, if you believe we can evolve, and become
better than we are; if you believe we can overcome the scourge of
war and someday fulfill the dream of harmony and peace earth, let
us begin the conversation today. Let us exchange our ideas..."

'It
Shouldn't Be Happening Here' Jews Rise Against Ashcroft War
-- by Nat Hentoff "As Eli Kintisch reported... in an article
the paper supported with a resounding editorial: 'Delegates representing
America's largest Jewish organizations and the national network of
Jewish community relations councils [have] passed a resolution criticizing
the administration's plans for closed-door military tribunals, detention
of immigrants, and monitoring of conversations between attorneys and
clients.'"

Some
Detainees May Be Held Even if Acquitted Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that some al Qaeda and
Taliban fighters could continue to be imprisoned even after being
tried and acquitted by U.S. military tribunals, if U.S. officials
still believed they were dangerous terrorists.

Political
Snooping by GOP Alleged in Virginia
Police Investigate A Top GOP Official In Eavesdropping -- State and
local police are conducting a criminal investigation into whether
the Virginia Republican Party's executive director violated state
law when he listened in on a telephone conference of Democratic leaders
discussing legal strategy for a politically sensitive redistricting
case, officials said today.

Pharmaceutical
Spending Continues Steady Increase
For the fourth straight year, prescription drug spending rose more
than 17 percent in 2001, driven in large measure by a few heavily
advertised, high-priced medications, a nonpartisan study released
yesterday found.

Thoughts
On Our War Against Terrorism
-- Statement by Congresswoman Cynthia A. McKinney "...Whose war
is this really? In November 2000, Republicans stole from America our
most precious right of all: the right to free and fair elections..."

Europe's
anger at U.S. reaches boiling point
-- by David S. Broder "...The immediate irritant is steel. The
looming and larger point of conflict is Iraq. And the underlying complaint
is that the Bush administration, whose leader had gained significantly
in standing [?!?] since my last trans-Atlantic trip 11 months ago,
has reverted to an earlier and unsettling pattern of behavior."

Gas
Masks Provided to Ala. Residents
The federal government will pay for gas mask-like safety gear for
thousands of people who live near an incinerator where the
Army will burn deadly nerve agents, the governor's office
said Wednesday.

France
Warns It Opposes Death Penalty in Terror Trial
The French government has warned the United States that it might end
its cooperation in the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui, a French
citizen who is the only person charged so far in the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, if the United States seeks the death penalty in the case,
American officials said today.

School
suspends teen on dog's say-so
Parents upset student was sent home -- even though he didn't have
marijuana -- An Ottawa police dog's interest
in a 15-year-old boy's ski jacket during an impromptu drug search
at an Orléans high school yesterday moved school officials to immediately
suspend the student -- even though he had no drugs on him.
[?!?]

Former
NZ PM: Dan Quayle wanted me 'liquidated'Former New Zealand Prime
Minister David Lange has claimed that
ex-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle threatened to have him "liquidated"
over his country's anti-nuclear policy
in the 1980s."There
were veiled threats and there were specific threats," he said. "It
was announced at one stage to the Australian cabinet that I would
have to be liquidated...I enquired of our security sources andwas told I shouldn't regard it as a credible
threat because
the vice president wasn't regarded as credible." [ROFL!]

Feds
Order Underground N-Weapons
The Pentagon and the Energy Department have directed the nation's
nuclear weapons laboratories in Livermore, Calif., and Los Alamos,
N.M., to compete for the chance to design
a hydrogen bomb that could destroy targets underground.

Bu$h
Wants Navajo Ruling Reversed
The Bu$h mis-ministration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn
a landmark $600 million trust fund claim won by the Navajo Nation
for fear other tribes will file similar challenges.

Bu$h
Diplomacy Yields Few Promising Signs
After months of caution, the Bu$h mis-ministration suffered a string
of setbacks to its newly active Middle East peace efforts this week,
raising unsettling questions about its influence in the region and
what steps it can — and will — take next.

Momentum
growing for inquiry into "oddities" of September 11
-- by Joyce Lynn (Online Journal) "... the on-line petition asks
the U.S. Senate to investigate issues that include George W. Bu$h's
possible knowledge of the terrorist attacks; the role of Unocal and
the Carlyle Group in the oil pipeline across Afghanistan..."

Crony
Capitalism Goes Global
-- by Tim Shorrock "William Conway, managing director and co-founder
of the Carlyle Group, was talking recently about the media coverage
of his bank and the cast of ex-Presidents and former officials, including
George H.W. Bush, James Baker III and Frank Carlucci, on its payroll..."

Fleet,
2 other firms sued over slavery
The first federal lawsuits of the modern era seeking reparations for
slavery were filed yesterday in New York against FleetBoston Financial
Group and two other major corporations accused of profiting from the
American system of human bondage and committing ''crimes against humanity.''

Bu$h’s
recipe for Latin America: austerity, repression and more US militarism
--
byBill Vann and Tomas Rodriguez "...In the wake of September
11, Washington ...has replaced the old invocations of an alliance
against 'communist subversion' used to justify the military interventions,
CIA-organized coups and US-backed dictatorships that characterized
the region for most of the twentieth century with a new slogan—the
'war on terrorism.'"

Court
Clears Way for Va. Execution
A divided Supreme Court cleared the way yesterday for Virginia to
execute a man who says his 1993 murder conviction was tainted by the
fact that his court-appointed lawyer had previously represented the
murder victim.

U.S.
Court Upholds Pollution Standards
Whitman says EPA will Support New Air Quality Rules -- A federal appeals
court yesterday upheld the most stringent air pollution control standards
in the nation's history, providing a victory for environmentalists
and public health advocates and perhaps clearing the way for the five-year-old
rules to finally be implemented.

Iraq
and September 11-- by Dan Bednarz, Ph.D. "As
best we know, none of those responsible for September 11 has been
apprehended, and most of the Al Qaeda who were in Afghanistan remain
at large as that country is at risk of reprising the nineteen eighties
trauma of government controlled cities with the countryside the domain
of drug-running warlords..."

The
outrages of secret evidence by our government continue
-- by Robyn E. Blumner "The use of secret evidence is anathema
to American justice... the outrages of secret evidence, the way it
requires an accused person to box shadows, are no different now than
before the terrorist attack. The only change is a newfound deference
to the government's claims of national security."

Church
accuses Blair of 'cruel thirst for vengeance'
The Church of England is on a collision course with the Government
over Iraq by producing a report for bishops which argues that an attack
on Saddam Hussein would be immoral and seen as the "cruel thirst for
vengeance".

Bush
Aide Denies Berenson Report
The White House said today that pResident Bu$h had not asked for clemency
for Lori Berenson, the American serving a 20-year jail sentence in
Peru after being convicted of helping rebels plan a 1995 attempt to
capture the country's Congress.

Report
Cites Unaccounted Plutonium
Amounts Sufficient to Create 'Dirty Bomb,' Official Says -- The Energy
Department cannot fully account for small amounts of potentially dangerous
plutonium provided under a 1954 Atoms for Peace program to 33 countries
including Iran, Pakistan and India, according to an inspector general
report released yesterday.

Scientist:
More Ice Shelves Face Trouble
The Antarctic's huge ice shelves may break up as ice flows across
the frozen continent slow or even stop and the global climate warms,
a New Zealand climate researcher warned.

Anthrax
Victim's Family Sues HMO
Attorneys for the family of Thomas L. Morris Jr., the D.C. postal
worker who died last year of inhalation anthrax, filed a multimillion-dollar
lawsuit yesterday accusing a Maryland medical center of misdiagnosing
his symptoms three days before his death.

U.S.
to Send Special Forces to Train Army for Kabul
Offense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld assigned the American military
a complex new mission in Afghanistan today as he announced that Special
Forces troops would begin training the new Afghan national army within
the next six weeks.

Imperial
State Power in America
Now even US postage stamps will project the supremacy of American
Imperial Power into the world. The new 57-cent stamp shows an eagle,
which is an exact copy of the symbol of the
Waffen SS, which in turn was taken from the Imperial Praetorian
eagle of Ancient Rome. This is one of the first in a new series of
postage stamps being released by the US Post Office to commemorate
the New Age of State Power.

Environmentalists
Lose on Energy Bill
The Senate was where environmentalists hoped to make their stand on
energy policy. But after two weeks of votes and horse-trading, an
emerging Democratic energy bill appears to be anything but green.

Enron
sends California garbage
California prosecutors say that when they pried open 940 boxes of
documents subpoenaed from bankrupt energy giant Enron Corp., they
made a surprising discovery. "What we found were discarded Kleenexes,
old pizza boxes, garbage," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer
told reporters.

FBI
raids pro-RepublicansThe target of an anti-terrorist raid in the
United States last week provided funds for an Islamic group with close
ties to the Republican party and the White House.

Afghans
Say U.S. Troops Abused Them
More than 30 Afghans seized by American troops in a 3 a.m. raid on
a village security post said they were kicked and abused at a U.S.
Army detention center before being freed four days later.

Md.
Moves Toward Broader Police Power
Maryland's House of Delegates is preparing to pass anti-terrorism
legislation today that would dramatically
expand the ability of police to tap phones and eavesdrop on the e-mail
and Internet activity of suspected criminals -- part of
a deluge of terror-busting measures under consideration in nearly
every state capital.

Rome
Swamped by 2 Million Protesters
At least two million trade unionists descended on Rome on Saturday,
filling the city center with a sea of red flags in a massive show
of force against plans by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to re-write
labor laws.

Labour
dissent grows over Iraq
Tony Blair was yesterday confronted with mounting public dissent among
Labour MPs over his combative policy on Iraq as cabinet members rallied
to reject attacks on his leadership.

Bush’s
right to pick justices at issue
Having defeated pResident Bu$h’s appeals court nominee Charles Pickering,
Senate Democrats are moving to block Bu$h from appointing other conservatives
to the federal bench. But some are going further, saying that because
Bu$h lacks a popular mandate, the Senate should take no action on
any Bu$h nominee to a Supreme Court vacancy until after the 2004 presidential
election.

Security
at U.S. Reactors Criticized by CongressmanThe
Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not keep track of the number of
foreign citizens working at nuclear power plants, or how many guards
are employed at the plants or what the owners spend on security, the
agency told Representative Edward J. Markey in response to his questions
about security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Britain
accused on terror lab claim
Story of find in Afghan cave 'was made up' to justify sending marines
-- Britain was accused last night of falsely claiming that al-Qaeda
terrorists had built a 'biological and chemical weapons' laboratory
in Afghanistan to justify the deployment of 1,700 Royal Marines to
fight there.

Uncle
Sam's lucky finds
"On Sunday night the United States prepared for fresh strikes
against new pockets of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
At almost exactly the same time, American intelligence revealed that
they had uncovered an increase in money being transferred between
groups of al-Qaida fighters. According to my reckoning, this is the
14th handy thing that American intelligence has discovered since September
11..."

Finances
Prompted Raids on Muslims
...Showing up with warrants and drawn guns, the agents seized computers,
financial records and boxes of other documents from some of the nation's
most reputable Islamic organizations and leaders -- a coordinated
series of raids that outraged many Muslims.

'Killian
Nine' student in Fla. loses appeal challenging strip search School
had nine students arrested in 1998 for distributing underground publication
-- A federal appellate court has affirmed a district court's ruling
that a student at Killian High School in suburban Miami did not have
her constitutional rights violated when she was arrested
and strip-searched for helping todistribute
an obscene pamphlet
at the school in 1998.

Senate
Panel Says Enron Must Detail Policy Role
Subpoenas Shift Probe To White House Contacts -- Congressional probes
into Enron Corp. turned for the first time to the White House yesterday.
A Senate committee issued subpoenas to the collapsed energy company
and its accountant to see what role Enron had in creating the Bu$h
mis-ministration's energy policy.

GAO
Takes White House to Court
Investigative Arm of Congress Sues for Cheney Energy Papers -- The
investigative arm of Congress today filed suit against the Bu$h mis-ministration,
an unprecedented legal action growing out of a 10-month standoff between
the executive and legislative branches of government.

Radioactive
Bombs Rain Down on Asia
pResident Bu$h may have frightened most of America with big talk about
nuclear war, but people in Afghanistan and Pakistan think they've
already been nuked by depleted-uranium (DU) bombs.

'Intended'
U.S. Target Mystifies Villagers
Dec. 1Bombing Of Tractor
Killed 8 -- It was an agonizing, seven-hour walk to the cemetery.
Noor Mohammed, 57, had not slept all night, and he was distraught
and exhausted. The U.S. planes that had dropped bombs on his village
all night were keeping up the attack during the day, forcing him to
stop and seek shelter and making the usual three-hour walk last all
day. By the time he got there, it was too late. His wife, two sons
and two daughters had already been buried...

Taliban
bargaining on 18 US soldiers
While the American Special Forces are continuing their efforts to
locate the 18 US soldiers taken hostage by the Taliban and AlQaida
fighters, bargaining efforts are going on at highest level between
the Americans and the Taliban who now are demanding the save release
of more than 350 Taliban and non Afghan prisoners languishing in X-Ray
Cells in Cuba.

U.S.
Arms Illegally Go to 'Axis of Evil'
Smugglers based in the USA are illegally exporting millions of dollars'
worth of weapons and high-tech equipment to the countries p-Resident
Bu$h dubbed the ''axis of evil'' in his State of the Union address.

Secret
Government Report on Israel’s Spy Operation in the US:
Since late November, 2001, a story in the Washington Post reported
"the arrest of some 60 Israelis immediately after 9/11. As government
officials explained to the immigration judges, they were being held
because they were 'of special interest' to the feds – putting them
in the same category as hundreds of mostly Arab men rounded up since
the attacks."

Bu$h
Acts to Drop Core Privacy Rule on Medical Data
The Bu$h mis-ministration today proposed dropping a requirement at
the heart of federal rules that protect the privacy of medical records.
It said doctors and hospitals should not have to obtain consent from
patients before using or disclosing medical information for the purpose
of treatment or reimbursement.

Video
Surveillance Planned on Mall
Cameras to Be Installed by October in and Around All Major Monuments
-- Civil libertarian groups expressed concern that video monitoring
might discourage demonstrators, who for decades have gathered at the
Reflecting Pool and elsewhere on the Mall to protest government policy
on issues ranging from veterans benefits to abortion, civil rights
and the Vietnam War.

More
Sites Raided in Probe of Terrorism
Federal agents yesterday raided two more Northern Virginia locations
in an ongoing investigation of possible money laundering and tax evasion
...The raids came a day after similar sweeps of 14 other homes, businesses,
schools and organizations in Falls Church, Leesburg, Herndon and other
sites in Fairfax County.

Enron
Succeeded in Aid Pursuit
Enron Corp.'s vast overseas energy investments were aided by promises
of more than $7 billion in loans and insurance from the European,
Asian and worldwide development banks, as well as key U.S. export-support
agencies, according to a report to be released today.

Pollen
Count Rising Due To Global Warming, More CO2
Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming could
lead to an increase in the incidence of allergies to ragweed and other
plants by mid-century, according to a report appearing in the March
Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology by Harvard University researchers.

Antarctic
ice shelf disintegratingA
gigantic floating ice shelf has shattered explosively off the coast
of Antarctica, casting a plume of thousands of icebergs adrift across
the continent's Weddell Sea, polar scientists announced March 19.
Big enough to blanket all of San Francisco Bay plus most of the Delta,
the shelf's breakup was caused by unusually high temperatures during
the Antarctic summer, scientists said. The 12,000-year-old mass --
more than 650 feet thick and covering at least 1,250 square miles
-- broke apart in just 35 days.

Justice
Lawyers Get New Warning Discussing 'Internal Deliberations' With Outsiders
Discouraged
The inJustice Department's Civil Rights Division has reissued a warning
that career lawyers must watch what they say about their work. The
warning was e-mailed Friday to division section chiefs, according
to several sources, reprising a Sept. 28 memo stating that career
lawyers who talked to "outside entities" about "internal legal deliberations"
would face discipline to include possible disbarment.

The
Conservative Myth
-- by Larry Martin "It wasn’t that the Bush Administration wasted
the budget surplus, went deep into the red, and still tried to give
huge tax-cuts to the rich - I have grown to expect that from Republicans,
most of whom seem to have studied economics at the Arthur Andersen
School of Accounting..."

As
ice melts, climate-study funds dry up
Just as signs of climate change are becoming clearer throughout the
Arctic, scientists are losing some of their ability to keep track
of them. Monitoring stations are closing across northern Canada, Russia,
and the United States as governments cut budgets and shift spending
priorities.

Military
to Target Enemy Stragglers U.S. General Tells of Need to Strike
First -- The U.S. military and its allies are planning new attacks
on several pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters believed to be
hiding in southern and eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. commander of
ground operations in the war said today.

Anti-brutality
protesters arrested in droves
(Montreal) Police said Saturday they made 371 arrests at a demonstration
against police brutality the previous night. The department said there
were between 400 and 450 people at the demonstration, and that there
were no injuries reported.

Anthrax
attacks: CIA test that went awry?
A Newsnight investigation raised the possibility that there
was a
secret CIA project to investigate methods of sending anthrax through
the mail which went madly out of control. The shocking
assertion is that a key member of the covert operation may have removed,
refined and eventually posted weapons-grade anthrax which killed five
people.

Pentagon
finishes rules for military tribunals
After four months of work, the Pentagon has finished writing the rules
for military tribunals that will try prisoners from the war in Afghanistan,
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday.

Al-Qaeda
dead have vanished
US military officials have repeatedly said they killed at least 500
fighters in their bombing campaign and ground operations, but yesterday,
in the village of Shahikot - the heart of the battle - there
was little evidence to match their claims.

China
accuses United States of human rights offenses
China has released its own human rights report criticizing the U.S.
government after the U.S. State Department published its “Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2001” which labels China as a
human rights offender for its suppression of religious groups.

Tipper
hurries home for family council on seeking seat
Tipper Gore has cut short a trip to California to return to Tennessee
today to confer with family and friends, and she is expected to meet
with U.S. Rep. Bob Clement to discuss whether she should run for the
U.S. Senate, The Associated Press reported yesterday.

Tipper
Gore Mulls Run for Senate
Ex-Advisers' Encouragement Piques Interest in Tenn. Race -- First
Lady Tipper Gore added an unexpected twist to Tennessee and national
politics yesterday, telling friends she will seriously consider entering
the race for the Senate seat that was held by her husband, President
Al Gore.

Teachers
proposing book ban in Russell [Kentucky]50
titles on blacklist
for county high school -- A teachers' prayer
group is involved in an effort to get dozens of books dealing
with ghosts, cults and witchcraft reviewed for possible removal from
the library at Russell County High School. God
revealed to the group that
the presence of the books was one reason His
"manifested presence" hadn't
yet come to the school to change the hearts and minds of students,according to
a letter from one member of the group.

USA:
Post 11 September detainees deprived of their basic rights Six
months on from the 11 September attacks, a significant number of people
detained in the USA in their aftermath continue to be deprived of
some basic rights under international law, and many appear to have
been detained arbitrarily, Amnesty International said today.

Lott,
Irate Over Judge, Plans to Block Daschle Aide
[Waaahhh! Lott needs his bottle! Get OVER
IT, loser!] The partisan battle over judicial nominations
intensified today as Senator Trent Lott, the nutcase whack-job
minority leader, struck out at the Senate Judiciary Committee and
moved to block an aide to Senator Tom Daschle, the majority leader,
from filling a spot on the Federal Communications Commission.

Now
science tells us how we really feelScanners that could determine our political
beliefs, pinpoint our involvements in crime, or
even uncover extra-marital liaisons are being developed by neurologists.
It sounds like science fiction, but the idea is being taken seriously
by neurologists following breakthroughs in research on the amygdala,
an almond-shaped region of the forebrain.

Depleted
Uranium in Bunker Bombs
America's big dirty secret -- The US has admitted that it has used
depleted uranium weaponry over the last decade against bunkers in
Iraq, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan.

Mar
16, 2002

ANWR
and Peas
-- by Paul Krugman On Wednesday the Senate voted down a proposal by
John Kerry and John McCain to raise mileage standards on automobiles.
The outcome came as no surprise, but what does it mean?

I
Want America Back--
by Kim Sayers Rightwing intimidation at an anti-Bu$h demonstration
-- and at lunch at the Sixteenth Street Mall

Andersen
Charged With Obstruction in Enron Inquiry
In the first criminal charge ever brought against a major accounting
firm, Arthur Andersen has been indicted on a single count of obstruction
of justice for destroying thousands of documents related to the Enron
investigation, the inJustice Department announced today.

Panel
Rejects Bu$h [fascist] Nominee for Judgeship
The Senate Judiciary Committee shut the door today on pResident Bu$h's
efforts to promote Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr. to an appeals court
post, as Democrats used their majority to reject his confirmation
in the committee and then refused to send the nomination to the full
Senate as the pResident had requested.

Ashcroft
Personnel Moves Irk Career Justice Lawyers Attorney General John
D. Ashkkkroft has moved in recent months to consolidate his control
over the inJustice Department's Civil Rights Division, turning over
control of sensitive issues traditionally handled by career lawyers
to more conservative political appointees.

U.S.
Says Powell Demanded Pullout by Israeli Forces As the Bu$h mis-ministration's
special envoy arrived, senior officials in Washington said on Thursday
that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had delivered a blunt private
demand to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled
areas to help American efforts to broker a cease-fire.

White
House defends nuclear war plans with sophistries and saber-rattling
In the week since the press first reported that the US government
is laying plans for a greatly expanded nuclear capability—increasing
both the number of countries targeted and the circumstances under
which the use of nuclear weapons could be authorized—the Bu$h mis-ministration
has publicly sought to downplay the revelation.

Europe
Bans Food Supplements
On Wednesday 13th March 2002, new bureaucratic legislation was undemocratically
passed by the European Parliament that outlaws most food supplements
currently available in health shops.

U.S.
Will Take Action Against Iraq, Bu$h Says
pResident Bu$h declared yesterday that "all options are on the table"
-- including nuclear weapons --
to confront states that threaten to use weapons of mass destruction,
as he issued his strongest warning to date that his mis-ministration
plans to take on Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

Hundreds
of Arabs Still Detained in U.S. Jails
Six months after the attack on the World Trade Center, hundreds of
Arabs remain detained in U.S. prisons and the net has widened to include
asylum seekers, some women and children who fled persecution in the
Middle East, human rights advocates say.

Household
products contaminate water
Waterways in the United States are awash in traces of chemicals used
in beauty products, medications, cleaners and foods, a government
analysis shows.

Class-Action
Bill Favorable to Business Passes House
A partisan battle over the nation's civil justice system reached the
floor of the House of Representatives today as Rethuglicans pushed
through a bill explicitly intended to protect corporations against
the high cost of class- action lawsuits in state courts.

Anthrax
Investigation Provokes Charges of Cover-Up
News reports that the FBI is not close to making an arrest in its
investigation of last year's deadly anthrax mailings and may be "dragging
its feet," have provoked charges of a possible cover-up and secret
domestic experiments conducted during the 1950s by Fort Detrick researchers.

[Lighter
side]Millions
prone to photocopier rage: studyOffice
photocopiers are a hotbed of stress and anxiety for many Canadian
workers, according to a new study... The national poll
found that 12 per cent of Canadians who have used a photocopier at
work have become so frustrated that they have actually kicked or hit
it. Another three in 10
say that they have "seriously wanted to kick or hit" their photocopier,
but ultimately restrained themselves.

U.N.
Chief Tells Israel It Must End 'Illegal Occupation'
The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, told Israel today
that "you must end the illegal occupation" of Palestinian lands, as
Israeli ground forces and helicopter gunships killed 31 Palestinians
in their fiercest assault on the areas since Israel conquered them
in 1967.

Democrats
Try to Surpass Bu$h in Tough Post-Enron Fraud Laws
Senate Democrats tried to draw a sharp contrast today with pResident
Bu$h's response to the collapse of Enron, proposing laws that would
increase criminal penalties for certain corporate wrongdoing and give
state attorneys general new powers to sue companies.

German
press turns anti-American
Over the last few weeks a significant change of opinion can be discerned
within influential circles in Germany. The traditional feeling of
attachment to the US, characterised by a general harmoniousness since
the end of the Second World War, has soured into a sceptical and even
hostile attitude.

Trooper
records' secrecy attacked
Lawmakers want [New Jersey] Gov. McGreevey's administration to reconsider
a proposed regulation that would block public
access to most records of individual state troopers, including traffic-stop
data.

Colin
Powell's List
The list in question, or rather the lists, concern groups that the
government labels foreign terrorist organizations, or FTOs, along
with funders, supporters and business entities that aid them.

Bu$h
in the Bunker
-- by Thomas M. Spencer "Boy, what a week for the Bush administration!
On February 28th, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle asked
a few fairly obvious questions about the ongoing war on terrorism
and was verbally assaulted by congressional Republicans as if he had
committed treason or, at the very least, advocated normalizing relations
with Cuba or some other crazy or outrageous thing."

The
war in Afghanistan and the crisis of political rule in America --
Part 4
"The Bush administration is a concentrated expression of the
mortal crisis—economic, social and political—of American capitalism.
Its main features—political and ideological reaction, hostility toward
democratic rights, chauvinism and militarism, criminality and parasitism—bespeak
a ruling elite that is thrashing about in the face of a multitude
of contradictions that it can neither comprehend nor resolve."

Bu$h's
stealth policy on N-arms
-- by Thomas Oliphant "IT IS NOT simply the fresh list of countries
that the United States is willing to consider nuking someday. What
is truly significant - as well as stupid, scary, and outrageous -
is the almost casual breaking of long-standing policy taboos about
the unthinkable and the implications of this cavalier attitude for
relations with the rest of the world and for future arms races."

BU$H'S
NUCLEAR 'LUNACY' Horror at Dubya's secret attack plan on
7 countries
pResident Bu$h faced world anger last night over America's seven-nation
nuclear hit list. British MPs joined the outcry after a leaked Pentagon
report revealed contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against China,
Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Libya. The secret policy
was denounced as warmongering "lunacy".

Bu$h
Vows to Aid Other Countries in War on Terror
pResident Bu$h declared today that the United States was willing to
train and provide military aid to "governments everywhere" for the
fight against terrorism and for what he made clear would be battles
beyond Afghanistan.

Afghans
Prepare For Final Assault
While U.S. planes bombed enemy positions, tanks and troop trucks rumbled
down dirt roads and across a desert expanse to take up positions here
...at least 1,150 Afghan reinforcements linked up with 1,800 U.S.
and Afghan troops that have been trading fire with the guerrillas
for 10 days.

Drugstores
Threaten to End Medicaid Service Drugstores around the nation
are threatening to stop serving Medicaid patients and close or reduce
hours if states follow through on plans to cut the amounts paid to
pharmacies for filling Medicaid prescriptions.

What?
Another shadow government? Think About It
-- by John David Rose "The nation doesn't need to keep Vice President
[sic] Dick Cheney and a bunch of bureaucrat gnomes holed up in expensive
caves to run things if a terrorist attack destroys Washington. When
G.W. Jr. moved into the White House, a shadow government moved in
with him."

U.S.
Behind Secret Transfer of Terror Suspects
Since Sept. 11, the U.S. government has secretly transported dozens
of people suspected of links to terrorists to countries other than
the United States, bypassing extradition procedures and legal formalities,
according to Western diplomats and intelligence sources. The suspects
have been taken to countries, including Egypt and Jordan, whose intelligence
services have close ties to the CIA and where they can be subjected
to interrogation tactics -- including torture and threats to families
-- that are illegal in the United States, the sources said.

FBI
director did legal work for Enron Corp.
The FBI acknowledged yesterday that Director Robert S. Mueller III
did legal work for a Massachusetts subsidiary of Enron Corp. nearly
a decade ago, but the agency said his involvement was not extensive
enough to require him to withdraw from overseeing the criminal investigation
of the bankrupt energy giant.

Growth
Gives Democrats Bigger Hopes in the West
This year, the steady population shift westward and the explosive
growth of metropolitan areas have given Democrats new hope of denting
the advantages Rethuglicans have held for nearly a decade, especially
in the House, where Democrats need a net gain of six seats to gain
control for the first time since 1994.

Web
site threatens to publish Israeli spy ring report
A French web site threatened Wednesday to publish a report allegedly
showing that US authorities had broken a ring of Israeli spies trying
to burrow into the US Justice and Defense Departments, if US and Israeli
officials continued to deny the allegations.

Key
Afghans Urge Militants To Surrender Local Afghan leaders have
appealed to al Qaeda and Taliban forces holed up in the mountains
of eastern Afghanistan to surrender, a move that could delay a final
ground assault on the area and strain relations with U.S. commanders
eager to finish off the enemy.

Kerry
Fires Back At G.O.P. Snipers
-- by Joe Conason "We are living in a time when scoundrels seek
to bully the loyal opposition and demonize all dissent for their own
advancement. That’s why certain Republican politicians and pundits
have assaulted Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and other Democrats
in terms usually reserved for foreign and domestic enemies."

When
Businessmen Make Boo-Boos
-- By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, "Let us now take
a walking tour of Washington, D.C., to see whether the Enron scandal
has loosened corporate America's grip on our nation's capital. (Okay,
the answer is no.)"

Israeli
Ministers Call for War
A Palestinian suicide bomber transformed a crowded cafe into a mass
of maimed bodies and upturned, blood-covered furniture Saturday night,
killing at least 12 people in an attack across the street from Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's walled compound. By Sunday morning, Israel
had destroyed Yasser Arafat's seaside office in Gaza and some
ministers were calling for all-out war.

U.S.
Nuclear Plan Sees New Weapons and New Targets
Outlining a broad overhaul of American nuclear policy, a
secret Pentagon report calls for developing new nuclear weapons that
would be better suited for striking targets in Iraq, Iran, North Korea,
Syria and Libya.

Race
row as Blunkett backs 'stop and search' (UK)
The Home Secretary will re-ignite the debate about race and crime
tomorrow when he gives his 'whole-hearted
backing' to controversial police powers to stop and search people
suspected of being involved in crime.

Terror
law takes liberties
-- by John Wadham "If we're fighting to defend the values of
a free, democratic society, we don't win by undermining those values
ourselves."

Hollywood
gets terrorism handbook
An industry "advisory" [?!] group that counsels Hollywood
on responsibly handling issues such as substance abuse and auto safety
has added terrorism and war to its list.

U.S.
Works Up Plan for Using Nuclear ArmsMilitary: Administration, in a secret report,
calls for a strategy against at least seven nations: China, Russia,
Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya and Syria. The Bu$h mis-ministration
has directed the military to prepare contingency plans to use nuclear
weapons against at least seven countries and to build smaller nuclear
weapons for use in certain battlefield situations, according to a
classified Pentagon report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

USA
Today: Enron Spent $2.5 Million on Lobbying
The collapsed energy trading company Enron Corp. spent nearly $2.5
million lobbying the Bu$h mis-ministration in the first half of 2001,
not $825,000 as it first reported, USA Today reported Friday.

Ridge
Close to Unveiling New Terror Alert System
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge is preparing to unveil a new
terrorism alert system that would give state and local governments
and the public more precise information [?] when the government issues
warnings of potential attacks, officials said yesterday.

Bu$h
Begins to Lose Battle Here This week pResident Bu$h has found
himself compromising plenty. On a variety of policy and personnel
issues he is even in the odd position of playing defense at home while
continuing on the offense against Al Qaeda.

Thompson
Won't Seek Another Senate Term
Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.) announced yesterday he will not seek
reelection in November, adding greater uncertainty to what is already
shaping up as a close battle for control of the Senate this fall.

The
war in Afghanistan and the crisis of political rule in America --Part
1"A
case can be made for the following axiom: the more absurd and disingenuous
the official justifications given by a political elite for its policies,
the greater the crisis of the regime. A regime in deep crisis cannot
tell the truth—or anything approaching the truth—not only to the people,
but also to itself. The underlying social contradictions, and the
intensity of the conflicts within the ruling layers themselves, simply
do not permit it."

Senators
Say Army Secretary White Broke Ethics Vow
Army Secretary Thomas E. White continued to hold a financial interest
in Enron Corp. more than nine months after he left the company and
agreed to divest his holdings to avoid potential conflicts of interest,
documents released yesterday show.

Mar
8, 2002

Bu$h
had dealings with Lay, Enron ventures in the 1980s
pResident George W. Bu$h had business ties with Enron and its predecessor
companies, and first met Kenneth Lay, its chairman, sometime in the
late 1980s, according to public records and interviews. Previously,
the pResident [and consummate liar] had not mentioned his business
dealings with Enron and had said that he got to know Lay after he
was elected governor of Texas in 1994.

US
massacre in eastern Afghanistan
US forces are carrying out a colonial-style massacre in the mountains
of eastern Afghanistan. Hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces have
been killed in five days of fighting, according to American military
officials, who make clear that they intend to see the remainder exterminated.

White
House, Hill Democrats at Odds
Tensions over the Bu$h mis-ministration's sharing of information with
Congress flared anew yesterday as the White House excluded the House
Democratic leader from a confidential briefing and Bu$h aides swapped
charges with lawmakers about who was told of White House contingency
plans dealing with a hypothetical nuclear attack on Washington.

Alaska
oil plan faces defeat
pResident Bu$h's opponents appear to be on the brink of killing his
plans to drill for oil and gas in an environmentally sensitive area
of Alaska.

Neighborhood
Watch Enlisted in Terror War
Attorney General John D. Ashkkkroft unveiled plans yesterday to add
nearly $2 million in federal funds to the Neighborhood Watch program
with the aim of doubling the number of local groups to 15,000 nationwide
["turning in" the liberals?]

House
GOP Relents in Fight Over Stimulus
pResident Bu$h's once-high hopes for an economic stimulus plan dominated
by tax cuts for U.S. corporations evaporated yesterday, as House Rethuglican
leaders agreed to legislation that will focus largely on new benefits
for unemployed workers.

Bu$h
Zigzags After a Vote in California
When pResident Bu$h called Bill Simon Jr. this morning to congratulate
him on winning the California Republican primary for governor, he
only indirectly acknowledged that his preferred candidate, Richard
J. Riordan, was overwhelmed in an upset on Tuesday that just weeks
ago was inconceivable to the White House.

Not
the People's Choice
How to democratize American democracy -- by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"The true significance of the disputed 2000 election has thus
far escaped public attention. This was an election that elevated the
popular-vote loser to the American presidency..."

For
their eyes only The
democratic principle of open government is under pressure from a US
administration obsessed with secrecy and media manipulation, writes
Julian Borger.

Judge
Orders More Papers on Task Force
Released A federal judge ordered seven government agencies today to
release thousands of documents related to Vice pResident Dick Cheney's
national energy task force.

Analysis:
White House Digs in on Task Force Records
"The White House vow to keep details of its energy task force
meetings secret, even as thousands of related documents are poised
for release, sounds to some like slamming the barn door after the
horse has bolted."

Bu$h
Proposes Welfare Change
'Workfare' participants could be paid below minimum wage -- The Bu$h
junta has decided that minimum-wage laws
should not apply to welfare recipients who are working
off their benefits.

Study
Ties Pollution, Cancer Risk
Researchers for the first time have linked long-term exposure to fine
particles of air pollution from coal-fired power plants, factories
and diesel trucks to an increased risk of dying from lung cancer.

Nine
Americans Killed in Afghan Attack
Nine American soldiers have died in a U.S.-led assault in Afghanistan,
including at least eight killed when two helicopters took enemy fire
in the largest offensive of the five-month war against terrorists,
Pentagon officials said Monday.

The
shadow of dictatorship: Bu$h established secret government after September
11"...The
most sinister characteristic of this secret government is that it
consists entirely of executive branch officials, in
complete violation of the separation of powers which is
the heart of the US constitutional system. No one in the other two
branches of government, the legislative and judicial, was included
in the plans or even aware of them..."

Bu$h
View of Secrecy Is Stirring Frustration
Disclosure Battle Unites Right and Left -- The federal judge who ordered
the Bu$h mis-ministration to turn over some records related to Vice
pResident Cheney's energy task force wondered "what in the world"
the Energy Department was doing, acting at such a "glacial pace" in
response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Daschle
Calls for Sharing Of Plans
Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said yesterday that
the failure to tell Congress about the existence of a "shadow government"
that is operating at two secret locations outside Washington was "a
pretty profound illustration" of the Bu$h mis-ministration's unwillingness
to share information about the war against terrorism.

Breaking
the Contract
- by Paul Krugman "If converting Social Security to a system
of private retirement accounts is such a good idea, why can't advocates
of that conversion try, just once, to make their case without insisting
that 1+1=4?"

Can
We Stop the Next Attack?
A 10-kiloton nuclear weapon detonating in New York City? It didn't
happen, but it could have. That knowledge keeps the CIA and FBI scrambling
to fix a broken system before another strike comes.

Congressional
Inquiry Cites Flaws in Antimissile Sensor
A Congressional inquiry into reports of corporate fraud has found
widespread technical failures in a prototype antimissile sensor meant
to track enemy warheads. It leaves open the question of whether the
government contractors withheld information about those failures from
military officials.

U.S.
Bombs Blast Afghan Mountains
U.S. bombers blasted the cavernous mountains of eastern Afghanistan
for a third day Sunday, pressing a new offensive against al-Qaida
and Taliban fighters believed to be regrouping there.

U.S.
Casualties Highlight Dangers
Fresh U.S. combat casualties show the continuing danger five months
into the anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan even as the Pentagon
prepares to expand it to other countries.

Energy
Dept. Is Challenged Over Waste Disposal Methods
As the Energy Department marches ahead with its plan to bury waste
from civilian nuclear reactors at Yucca Mountain, it is disposing
of waste from its own military reactors in three far shallower sites
around the country where it once produced weapons material.

Polluters
Should Have to Pay
"In 1980, after Love Canal entered the public's consciousness,
Congress made an important commitment to Americans who found themselves
living on toxic dump sites, exposed to deadly carcinogens and chemicals
that threatened their health and lives. As a nation we said we would
clean up toxic sites — and the polluters, not the American people,
would pay."

Sen.
Kerry Chides Republicans on War Comments
U.S. Sen. John Kerry on Saturday accused Republicans of hiding behind
a "false cloak of patriotism" as they attacked Democrats for questioning
White House plans to expand the war on terrorism.

Nixon,
Graham anti-Semitism on tape
Rev. Billy Graham openly voiced a belief that Jews control the American
media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with
President Richard Nixon, according to a tape of the Oval Office meeting
released Thursday by the National Archives.

U.S.
Forces Join Big Assault on Afghan Stronghold
Afghan and American forces attacked hundreds of suspected Al Qaeda
and Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan today in some of the heaviest
fighting of the war, American military officials said.

Has
the US lost its way?
"Does everybody hate America? Maybe the world is just concerned
at the lack of visionary leadership from such a powerful nation."

Fears
Prompt U.S. to Beef Up Nuclear Terror Detection
The Bu$h mis-ministration has deployed hundreds of sophisticated sensors
since November to U.S. borders, overseas facilities and choke points
around Washington. It has placed the Delta Force, the nation's elite
commando unit, on a new standby alert to seize control of nuclear
materials that the sensors may detect.

Congress
Not Advised Of Shadow Government
Key congressional leaders said yesterday the
White House did not tell them that pResident Bu$h has moved
a cadre of senior civilian managers to secret underground sites outside
Washington to ensure that the federal government could survive a devastating
terrorist attack on the nation's capital. [The coup d'etat would appear
to be complete...]

Fallout
likely caused 15,000 deaths
Radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests across the
globe probably caused at least 15,000 cancer deaths in U.S. residents
born after 1951, according to data from an unreleased federal study.

Bu$h
Uses Own Brand of Math on Social Security
In promoting the benefits of his proposal to overhaul Social Security,
pResident Bu$h adopted an example this week that few financial planners
would be likely to embrace, and one that more than doubles the potential
of the recommendations of his own commission on Social Security.

Airports
Screened Nine of Sept. 11 Hijackers, Officials Say
Nine of the hijackers who [allegedly] commandeered jetliners on Sept.
11 were selected for special security screenings that morning, including
two who were singled out because of irregularities in their identification
documents, U.S. officials said this week.

Daschle
Defends Challenge of Bu$h on War
Senate Majority Leader Says GOP Response Is 'Nothing Short of Hysterical.'
Daschle rejected Republican criticism that he had unpatriotically
challenged pResident Bu$h over the war on terrorism and said Democrats
will stand their ground.

EPA
official who quit gets Senate’s attention
The resignation of the top rules enforcer at the Environmental Protection
Agency has caught the attention of Senate Democrats, who plan to use
his criticism of the White House at a hearing next Thursday.

Archdiocese
to Yield List of Sex Accusers
A month after the Archdiocese of Boston began giving prosecutors the
names of almost 90 active or retired Roman Catholic priests accused
of sexually molesting children, the church today agreed to turn over
the names of the people they are accused of abusing.

US
Representative Henry A. Waxman Letter to George W. Bu$h
Opening a new front in his battle with the White House for full disclosure,
US Representative Henry A. Waxman today turned his focus to White
House meetings with industry representatives during the process of
formulating revisions to the clean air act.

Shadow
Government Is at Work in Secretp-Resident Bu$h has dispatched
a shadow government of about 100 senior civilian managers to live
and work secretly outside Washington, activating
for the first time long-standing plans to ensure survival of federal
rule after catastrophic attack on the nation's capital.

Red-Faced
White House Retreats
The Bu$h [moronic] mis-ministration accused former President Clinton
on Thursday of triggering violence in the Middle East with his failed
peacemaking effort, but then withdrew the assertion as a regrettable
mistake.

EPA
Veteran Resigns Over Pollution Policy
A senior Environmental Protection Agency official resigned this week,
protesting what he described as Bu$h mis-ministration efforts to undermine
tough legal actions against dozens of aging coal-fired power plants
and refineries that have violated federal emission standards.

German
court authorizes police dragnets
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the US, a German court
has now declared the use of controversial police dragnets as a legal
means of fighting terrorism.

Blair
edges closer to Iraqi strike
Tony Blair today moved a step closer to signing Britain up to US plans
to move against Iraq, saying he agreed with the "sentiment" behind
p-Resident Bu$h's "axis of evil" speech. In an interview with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - embargoed to miss today's British
newspapers - Mr Blair gave his strongest endorsement yet to the Bu$h's
plans to deal with Saddam Hussein.

Hunger
strike at Camp X-Ray
More than 100 prisoners held at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
have gone on a hunger strike after two guards allegedly removed a
prisoner's turban during a prayer session.

Enron
Paid Huge Bonuses in '01; Experts See a Motive for Cheating
The Enron Corporation paid its executives huge one-time bonuses last
year as a reward for hitting a series of stock-price targets ending
in 2000 — the very time, investigators now say, when corporate officials
were improperly inflating the company's profits by as much as a billion
dollars.

House
Panel Voices Doubts on Skilling
A House committee sent a letter today to Jeffrey K. Skilling, the
former Enron chief executive, saying that recent interviews with other
Enron officials "appear to raise serious questions" about whether
Mr. Skilling told the truth before Congress last month.